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Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2
LETTER CLXXIII.—TO JOHN ADAMS, December 5, 1788
TO JOHN ADAMS.
Paris, December 5, 1788.
Dear Sir,
I had the pleasure of writing to you on the 2nd of August, and of adding a Postscript of August the 6th.
You recollect well the Arrêt of December the 29th, 1787, in favor of our commerce, and which, among other things, gave free admission to our whale-oil, under a duty of about two louis a ton. In consequence of the English treaty, their oils flowed in, and over-stocked the market. The light duty they were liable to under the treaty, still lessened by false estimates and aided by the high premiums of the British government, enabled them to undersell the French and American oils. This produced an outcry of the Dunkirk fishery. It was proposed to exclude all European oils, which would not infringe the British treaty. I could not but encourage this idea, because it would give to the French and American fisheries a monopoly of the French market. The Arrêt was so drawn up; but, in the very moment of passing it, they struck out the word European, so that our oils became involved. This, I believe, was the effect of a single person in the ministry. As soon as it was known to me, I wrote to Monsieur de Montmorin, and had conferences with him and the other ministers. I found it necessary to give them information on the subject of the whale-fishery, of which they knew little but from the partial information of their Dunkirk adventurers. I therefore wrote the observations (of which I enclose you a printed copy), had them printed to entice them to read them, and particularly developed the expense at which they are carrying on that fishery, and at which they must continue it, if they do continue it. This part was more particularly intended for Mr. Necker, who was quite a stranger to the subject, who has principles of economy, and will enter into calculations. Other subjects are incidentally introduced; though little connected with the main question, they had been called for by other circumstances. An immediate order was given for the present admission of our oils, till they could form an Arrêt; and, at a conference, the draught of an Arrêt was communicated to me, which re-established that of December the 29th. They expressed fears, that, under cover of our name, the Nova Scotia oils would be introduced; and a blank was left in the draught for the means of preventing that. They have since proposed, that the certificate of their consul shall accompany the oils, to authorize their admission, and this is what they will probably adopt. It was observed, that if our States would prohibit all foreign oils from being imported into them, it would be a great safeguard, and an encouragement to them to continue the admission. Still there remains an expression in the Arrêt, that it is provisory only. However, we must be contented with it as it is; my hope being, that the legislature will be transferred to the National Assembly, in whose hands it will be more stable, and with whom it will be more difficult to obtain a repeal, should the ministry hereafter desire it. If they could succeed in drawing over as many of our Nantucket men as would supply their demands of oil, we might then fear an exclusion; but the present Arrêt, as soon as it shall be passed, will, I hope, place us in safety till that event, and that event may never happen. I have entered into all these details, that you may be enabled to quiet the alarm which must have been raised by the Arrêt of September the 28th, and assure the adventurers that they may pursue their enterprises as safely as if that had never been passed, and more profitably, because we participate now of a monopolized, instead of an open market. The enclosed observations, though printed, have only been given to the ministers, and one or two other confidential persons. You will see that they contain matter which should be kept from the English, and will therefore trust them to the perusal only of such persons as you can confide in. We are greatly indebted to the Marquis de la Fayette for his aid on this, as on every other occasion. He has paid the closest attention to it, and combated for us with the zeal of a native.
The necessity of reconducting my family to America, and of placing my affairs there under permanent arrangements, has obliged me to ask of Congress a six months’ absence, to wit, from April to November next. I hope, therefore, to have the pleasure of seeing you there, and particularly, that it will be at New York that I shall find you. Be so good as to present my sincere esteem to Mrs. Adams, and believe me to be, with very affectionate attachment, Dear Sir, your friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLXXIV.—TO MR. SHORT, December 8, 1788
TO MR. SHORT.
Paris, December 8, 1788.
Dear Sir,
My last to you was of the 21st of November, addressed to Milan, poste restante, according to the desire expressed through Mrs. Paradise. I have lately received yours of the 19th of November, and sincerely felicitate you on your recovery. I wish you may have suffered this to be sufficiently established before you set out on your journey. The present letter will probably reach you amidst the classical enjoyments of Rome. I feel myself kindle at the reflection, to make that journey; but circumstances will oblige me to postpone it at least. We are here under a most extraordinary degree of cold. The thermometer has been ten degrees of Reaumur below freezing: this is eight degrees of Fahrenheit above zero, and was the degree of cold here in the year 1740. The long continuance of this severity, and the snow now on the ground, give physical prognostications of a hard winter. You will be in a privileged climate, and will have had an enviable escape from this. The Notables are not yet separated, nor is their treasonable vote against the people yet consolidated; but it will be. The parliament have taken up the subject, and passed a very laudable vote in opposition. They have made it the occasion of giving sketches of what should be a bill of rights. Perhaps this opposition of authority may give the court an option between the two. Stocks are rising slowly, but steadily. The loan of 1784 is at thirteen loss; the caisse d’escompte, four thousand and seventy-five. The Count de Bryenne has retired, and M. de Puysegur succeeded to his place. Madame de Chambonois (sister of M. de Langear) is dead of the small-pox. Pio is likely to receive a good appointment in his own country, which will take him from us. Corn is likely to become extremely scarce in France, Spain, and England. This country has offered a premium of forty sous the quintal on flour of the United States, and thirty sous the quintal on our wheat, to be brought here between February and June.
General Washington writes me, that industry and economy begin to take place of that idleness and extravagance which had succeeded the close of the war. The Potomac canal is in great forwardness. J. M. writes me word, that Mr. Jay and General Knox are talked of in the Middle States for Vice-Presidents, but he queries whether both will not prefer their present births. It seems agreed, that some emendations will be made to the new constitution. All are willing to add a bill of rights; but they fear the power of internal taxation will be abridged. The friends of the new government will oppose the method of amendment by a federal convention, which would subject the whole instrument to change, and they will support the other method, which admits Congress, by a vote of two thirds, to submit specific changes to the Assemblies, three fourths of whom must concur to establish them.
The enclosed letter is from Pallegrino, one of the Italian laborers established in our neighborhood. I fancy it contains one for his father. I have supposed it would not be unpleasant to you to have the delivery of it, as it may give you a good opportunity of conferring with one of that class as much as you please. I obey at the same time my own wishes to oblige the writer. Mazzei is at this time ill, but not in danger. I am impatient to receive further letters from you, which may assure me of the solidity of your recovery, being, with great anxiety for your health and happiness, Dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
[The annexed is here inserted in the Author’s MS. To whom addressed, does not appear.]
The Minister Plenipotentiary for the United States of America finds himself under the necessity of declining to authenticate writings destined to be sent to the United States, for this main reason, that such authentication is not legal evidence there. After a reason so sufficient, it seems superfluous to add, that, were his authentication admissible in the courts of the United States, he could never give it to any seal or signature, which had not been put in his presence; that he could never certify a copy, unless both that and the original were in a hand-writing legible to him, and had been compared together by him, word by word: that so numerous are the writings presented, that their authentication alone would occupy the greater part of his time, and, withdrawing him from his proper duties, would change the nature of his office to that of a notary. He observes to those who do him the honor of addressing themselves to him on this subject, that the laws for the authentication of foreign writings are not the same through all the United States, some requiring an authentication under the seal of the Prevoté of a city, and others admitting that of a Notary: but that writings authenticated in both these manners, will, under the one or the other, be admitted in most, if not all of the United States. It would seem advisable, then, to furnish them with this double authentication.
LETTER CLXXV.—TO DOCTOR GILMER, December 16, 1788
TO DOCTOR GILMER.
Paife, December 16, 1788.
Dear Doctor,
Your last letter of December the 23rd was unlucky, like the former one, in arriving while I was absent on a call of public business in Holland. I was discouraged from answering the law part of it on my return, because I foresaw such a length of time between the date of that and receipt of the answer, as would give it the air of a prescription after the death of the patient. I hope the whole affair is settled, and that you are established in good titles to all the lands. Still, however, being on the subject, I cannot help adding a word, in answer to the objection which you say is raised on the words ‘the estate,’ instead of ‘my estate.’ It has long been confessed in the courts, that the first decision, that a devise of lands to a person without words of inheritance, should carry an estate for life only, was an absurd decision, founded on feudal principles, after feudal ideas had long been lost by the unlettered writers of their own wills: and it has often been said, that were the matter to begin again, it should be decided that such a devise should carry a fee simple, as every body is sensible testators intend, by these expressions. The courts, therefore, circumscribe the authority of this chain of decisions, all hanging on the first link, as much as possible; and they avail themselves of every possible circumstance which may render any new case unlike the old one, and authorize them to conform their judgments to common sense, and the will of the testator. Hence they decide, that in a devise of ‘my estate at M.’ to such a one, without words of inheritance, the word estate is descriptive of the duration of the interest bequeathed, as well as its locality. From the same desire of getting back into the paths of common sense, they would not suffer the particle ‘the’ instead of ‘my’, to make a difference. ‘My estate at M.’ means not only my lands at M., but my fee simple in them. ‘The estate at M.’ means not only ‘the lands the testator holds at M., but the fee simple he has in them.’ Another objection will be made, perhaps, viz. that the testator devises in the same clause his estate called Marrow-bone, his tract called Horse-pasture, and his tract called Poison-field; that it is probable he intended to give the same interest in all; and as it is confessed that the word tract conveys but an estate for life, we must conclude that the word estate was meant to convey the same. I should reverse the argument, and say, as it confessed the word estate, conveys an estate in fee simple, we must conclude the word tract was meant to convey the same; that this conclusion coincides with the wishes of the courts, as bringing them back to what is right and consentaneous to the intention of the testator, as furnishing them a circumstance to distinguish the case from the original one, and withdraw it from its authority; whereas, the contrary conclusion tends to lead them further from the meaning of testators, and to fix them in error.
But I perceive that my wishes to see the weight of no objection where you are interested, are leading me to write an argument, where I had promised I would say only a word. I will, therefore, talk the subject over with you at Monticello, or Pen-park. I have asked of Congress a leave of five or six months’ absence next year, that I may carry my daughters home, and assist in the arrangement of my affairs. I shall pass two of the months at Monticello, that is to say, either June and July, or July and August, according to the time I may sail, which I hope will be in April: and then go on to New York and Boston, from whence I shall embark again for Europe, so as to get here before the winter sets in. I look forward with great fondness to the moment, when I can again see my own country and my own neighbors, and endeavor to anticipate as little as possible the pain of another separation from them. I hope I shall find you all under the peaceable establishment of the new constitution, which, as far as I can judge from public papers, seems to have become necessary for the happiness of our country. I thank you for your kind inquiries about my wrist. I followed advice with it, till I saw, visibly, that the joint had never been replaced, and that it was absurd to expect that cataplasms and waters would reduce dislocated bones. From that moment I have done nothing. I have for ever lost the use of my hand, except that I can write: and a withered hand and swelled and crooked fingers, still remaining twenty-seven months after the accident, make me fear I do not yet know the worst of it. But this, too, we will talk over at Monticello, and endeavor that it be the only pain to which our attention may be recalled. Adieu, my dear friend. Kiss and bless every body for me, Mrs. Gilmer especially. Assure her and yourself of the sincere and constant attachment of, Dear Doctor, your affectionate friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLXXVI.—TO THOMAS PAINE, December 23,1788
TO THOMAS PAINE.
Paris, December 23,1788.
Dear Sir,
It is true that I received very long ago your favors of September the 9th and 15th, and that I have been in daily intention of answering them, fully and confidentially; but you know such a correspondence between you and me cannot pass through the post, nor even by the couriers of ambassadors. The French packet-boats being discontinued, I am now obliged to watch opportunities by Americans going to London, to write my letters to America. Hence it has happened, that these, the sole opportunities by which I can write to you without fear, have been lost, by the multitude of American letters I had to write. I now determine, without foreseeing any such conveyance, to begin my letter to you, so that when a conveyance occurs, I shall only have to add recent occurrences. Notwithstanding the interval of my answer which has taken place, I must beg a continuance of your correspondence; because I have great confidence in your communications, and since Mr. Adams’s departure, I am in need of authentic information from that country.
I will begin with the subject of your bridge, in which I feel myself interested; and it is with great pleasure that I learn, by your favor of the 16th, that the execution of the arch of experiment exceeds your expectations. In your former letter you mention, that, instead of arranging your tubes and bolts as ordinates to the cord of the arch, you had reverted to your first idea, of arranging them in the direction of radii. I am sure it will gain both in beauty and strength. It is true that the divergence of these radii recurs as a difficulty, in getting the rails on upon the bolts; but I thought this fully removed by the answer you first gave me, when I suggested that difficulty, to wit, that you should place the rails first, and drive the bolts through them, and not, as I had imagined, place the bolts first, and put the rails on them. I must doubt whether what you now suggest will be as good as your first idea; to wit, to have every rail split into two pieces longitudinally, so that there shall be but the halves of the holes in each, and then to clamp the two halves together. The solidity of this method cannot be equal to that of the solid rail, and it increases the suspicious parts of the whole machine, which, in a first experiment, ought to be rendered as few as possible. But of all this the practical iron men are much better judges than we theorists. You hesitate between the catenary and portion of a circle. I have lately received from Italy a treatise on the equilibrium of arches, by the Abbe Mascheroni. It appears to be a very scientifical work. I have not yet had time to engage in it; but I find that the conclusions of his demonstrations are, that every part of the catenary is in perfect equilibrium. It is a great point, then, in a new experiment, to adopt the sole arch, where the pressure will be equally borne by every point of it. If any one point is pushed with accumulated pressure, it will introduce a danger, foreign to the essential part of the plan. The difficulty you suggest, is, that the rails being all in catenaries, the tubes must be of different lengths, as these approach nearer or recede farther from each other, and therefore you recur to the portions of concentric circles, which are equidistant in all their parts. But I would rather propose, that you make your middle rail an exact catenary, and the interior and exterior rails parallels to that. It is true, they will not be exact catenaries, but they will depart very little from it; much less than portions of circles will. Nothing has been done here on the subject since you went away. There is an Abbe D’Arnal at Nismes, who had obtained an exclusive privilege for navigating the rivers of this country by the aid of the steam-engine. This interests Mr. Rumsey, who had hoped the same thing. D’Arnal’s privilege was published in a paper of the 10th of November. Probably, therefore, his application for it was previous to the delivery of Mr. Rumsey’s papers to the secretary of the Academy of Sciences, which was in the latter part of the month of August. However, D’Arnal is not a formidable competitor. He is not in circumstances to make any use himself of his privilege, and he has so illy succeeded with a steam-mill he erected at Nismes, that he is not likely to engage others to venture in his projects. To say another word of the catenarian arch, without caring about mathematical demonstrations, its nature proves it to be in equilibrio in every point. It is the arch formed by a string fixed at both ends, and swaying loose in all the intermediate points. Thus at liberty, they must finally take that position, wherein every one will be equally pressed; for if any one was more pressed than the neighboring point, it would give way, from the flexibility of the matter of the string.
I am, with sentiments of sincere esteem and attachment, Dear Sir, your friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLXXVII.—TO JOHN JAY, January 11, 1789
TO JOHN JAY.
Paris, January 11, 1789.
Sir,
My last letters were of the 14th, 19th, and 29th of November, by the way of London. The present will go the same way, through a private channel.
All military operations in Europe seem to have been stopped, by the excessive severity of the weather. In this country, it is unparalleled in so early a part of the winter, and in duration, having continued since the middle of November, during which time it has been as low as nine degrees below nought, that is to say, forty degrees below freezing, by Fahrenheit’s thermometer; and it has increased the difficulties of the administration here. They had, before, to struggle with the want of money, and want of bread for the people, and now, the want of fuel for them, and want of employment. The siege of Oczakow is still continued, the soldiers sheltering themselves in the Russian manner, in subterraneous barracks; and the Captain Pacha has retired with his fleet. The death of the King of Spain has contributed, with the insanity of the English King, to render problematical the form which the affairs of Europe will ultimately take. Some think a peace possible between the Turks and two Empires, with the cession of Crimea to the former, as less important to Russia than Poland, which she is in danger of losing. In this case, the two Empires might attack the King of Prussia, and the scene of war be only changed. He is certainly uneasy at the accident happened to his principal ally. There seems no doubt, but that the Prince of Wales will be sole regent; but it is also supposed, they will not give him the whole executive power, and particularly, that of declaring war without the consent of the parliament. Should his personal dispositions, therefore, and that of a new ministry, be the same which the King had, of co-operating with Prussia, yet the latter cannot count on their effect. Probably, the parliament will not consent to war, so that I think we may consider the two great powers of France and England as absolutely at rest for some time.
As the character of the Prince of Wales is becoming interesting, I have endeavored to learn what it truly is. This is less difficult in his case, than in that of other persons of his rank, because he has taken no pains to hide himself from the world. The information I most rely on, is from a person here, with whom I am intimate, who divides his time between Paris and London, an Englishman by birth, of truth, sagacity, and science. He is of a circle, when in London, which has had good opportunities of knowing the Prince; but he has also, himself, had special occasions of verifying their information, by his own personal observation. He happened, when last in London, to be invited to a dinner of three persons. The Prince came by chance, and made the fourth. He ate half a leg of mutton; did not taste of small dishes, because small; drank Champagne and Burgundy as small beer during dinner, and Bordeaux after dinner, as the rest of the company. Upon the whole, he ate as much as the other three, and drank about two bottles of wine without seeming to feel it. My informant sat next him, and being till then unknown to the Prince, personally, (though not by character), and lately from France, the Prince confined his conversation almost entirely to him. Observing to the Prince that he spoke French without the least foreign accent, the Prince told him, that when very young, his father had put only French servants about him, and that it was to that circumstance he owed his pronunciation. He led him from this to give an account of his education, the total of which was the learning a little Latin. He has not a single element of Mathematics, of Natural or Moral Philosophy, or of any other science on earth, nor has the society he has kept been such as to supply the void of education. It has been that of the lowest, the most illiterate and profligate persons of the kingdom, without choice of rank or mind, and with whom the subjects of conversation are only horses, drinking-matches, bawdy houses, and in terms the most vulgar. The young nobility, who begin by associating with him, soon leave him, disgusted with the insupportable profligacy of his society; and Mr. Fox, who has been supposed his favorite, and not over nice in the choice of company, would never keep his company habitually. In fact, he never associated with a man of sense. He has not a single idea of justice, morality, religion, or of the rights of men, or any anxiety for the opinion of the world. He carries that indifference for fame so far, that he would probably not be hurt were he to lose his throne, provided he could be assured of having always meat, drink, horses, and women. In the article of women, nevertheless, he is become more correct, since his connection with Mrs. Fitzherbert, who is an honest and worthy woman: he is even less crapulous than he was. He had a fine person, but it is becoming coarse. He possesses good native common sense; is affable, polite, and very good humored. Saying to my informant on another occasion, ‘your friend, such a one, dined with me yesterday, and I made him damned drunk;’ he replied, ‘I am sorry for it; I had heard that your royal highness had left off drinking;’ the Prince laughed, tapped him on the shoulder very good-naturedly, without saying a word, or ever after showing any displeasure. The Duke of York, who was for some time cried up as the prodigy of the family, is as profligate, and of less understanding. To these particular traits, from a man of sense and truth, it would be superfluous to add the general terms of praise or blame, in which he is spoken of by other persons, in whose impartiality and penetration, I have less confidence. A sample is better than a description. For the peace of Europe, it is best that the King should give such gleamings of recovery, as would prevent the regent or his ministry from thinking themselves firm, and yet, that he should not recover. This country advances with a steady pace towards the establishment of a constitution, whereby the people will resume the great mass of those powers, so fatally lodged in the hands of the King. During the session of the Notables, and after their votes against the rights of the people, the Parliament of Paris took up the subject, and passed a vote in opposition to theirs, (which I send you.) This was not their genuine sentiment: it was a manoeuvre of the young members, who are truly well disposed, taking advantage of the accidental absence of many old members, and bringing others over by the clause, which, while it admits the negative of the States General in legislation, reserves still to the parliament the right of enregistering, that is to say, another negative. The Notables persevered in their opinion. The Princes of the blood (Monsieur and the Duke d’Orleans excepted) presented and published a memoire, threatening a scission. The parliament were proposing to approve of that memoire (by way of rescinding their former vote), and were prevented from it by the threat of a young member, to impeach (denoncer) the memoire and the Princes who signed it. The vote of the Notables, therefore, remaining balanced by that of the parliament, the voice of the nation becoming loud and general for the rights of the Tiers-Etat, a strong probability that if they were not allowed one half the representation, they would send up their members with express instructions to agree to no tax and to no adoption of the public debts, and the court really wishing to give them a moiety of the representation, this was decided on ultimately. You are not to suppose that these dispositions of the court proceed from any love of the people, or justice towards their rights. Courts love the people always, as wolves do the sheep. The fact is this. The court wants money. From the Tiers-Etat they cannot get it, because they are already squeezed to the last drop. The clergy and the nobles, by their privileges and their influence, have hitherto screened their property, in a great degree, from public contribution. That half of the orange, then, remains yet to be squeezed, and for this operation there is no agent powerful enough, but the people. They are, therefore, brought forward as the favorites of the court, and will be supported by them. The moment of crisis will be the meeting of the States; because their first act will be, to decide whether they shall vote by persons or by orders. The clergy will leave nothing unattempted to obtain the latter; for they see that the spirit of reformation will not confine itself to the political, but will extend to the ecclesiastical establishment also. With respect to the nobles, the younger members are generally for the people, and the middle aged are daily coming over to the same side: so that by the time the States meet, we may hope there will be a majority of that body, also, in favor of the people, and consequently for voting by persons, and not by orders.
You will perceive, by the report of Mr. Necker (in the gazette of France), 1. a renewal of the renunciation of the power of imposing a new tax by the King, and a like renunciation of the power of continuing any old one; 2. an acknowledgment that the States are to appropriate the public monies, which will go to the binding the court to a civil list; 3. a consent to the periodical meeting of the States; 4. to consider of the restrictions of which lettres de cachet are susceptible; 5. the degree of liberty to be given to the press; 6. a bill of rights; and 7. there is a passage which looks towards the responsibility of ministers. Nothing is said of communicating to them a share in the legislation. The ministry, perhaps, may be unwilling to part with this, but it will be insisted on in the States. The letters of convocation will not appear till towards the latter end of the month: neither time nor place are yet declared, but Versailles is talked of, and we may well presume that some time in April will be fixed on. In the mean time, Mr. Necker gets money to keep the machine in motion. Their funds rose slowly, but steadily, till within these few days, when there was a small check. However, they stand very well, and will rise. The caisse d’escompte lent the government twenty-five millions, two days ago. The navy of this country sustained a heavy loss lately, by the death of the Bailli de Suffrein. He was appointed Generalissimo of the Atlantic, when war was hourly expected with England, and is certainly the officer on whom the nation would have reposed its principal hopes, in such a case. We just now hear of the death of the Speaker of the House of Commons, before the nomination of a regent, which adds a new embarrassment to the re-establishment of government in England. Since writing mine of November the 29th, yours of the 23rd of September has come to hand. As the General of the Mathurins was to be employed in the final redemption of our captives, I thought that their previous support had better be put into his hands, and conducted by himself in such a way as not to counterwork his plan of redemption, whenever we can enable him to begin on it. I gave him full powers as to the amount and manner of subsisting them. He has undertaken it, informing me, at the same time, that it will be on a very low scale, to avoid suspicion of its coming from the public. He spoke of but three sous a day per man, as being sufficient for their physical necessaries, more than which, he thinks it not advisable to give. I have no definitive answer yet from our bankers, whether we may count on the whole million last agreed to be borrowed, but I have no doubt of it, from other information, though I have not their formal affirmative. The gazettes of Leyden and France to this date, accompany this. I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and respect, Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant,
